Friday, July 31, 2009

As promised, I will now reveal what Mark and I chose to do with his free afternoon.

None other than Skype, of course! What did you think we would do!? Thank God Almighty for allowing Skype to exist. Oh, and there I am at the bottom of the picture with my Canon.

and what the heck - I never get to appear on my own blog! That just didn't seem fair. So, here I was during our date: Happy as a clam.

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Lately, people will be carrying on fun and exciting conversations with whomever is next to me. Then they will turn to me, look serious, and ask, "So, Shannon... how are you?"

...

"Um, fine. Yep."

I'm not really sure what they are expecting me to say. Maybe...

"Ugh, horrible. I'm dead sick of this whole thing! I wish Mark was home with me. I hate that he is gone. I'm sick of having to hear other girls complain about 'missing their husbands' who have been gone a total of one day. Sometimes I want to cry. I hate that if Mark is in his dorm room, I usually can't even call him. Because his room is like a prison cell with no reception. I hate it."

Whoops. I wouldn't want to be honest or anything. So a "fine" will have to do.

And in all reality and honesty, I really DO love being a military wife. I don't feel like defending myself tonight, but I really am SUPER extremely proud of him - to the max. I love that my man is serving our country and I get to stand patriotically right beside him. I intend on writing a post about this soon (if I ever get around to it). But sometimes... ? Sometimes it stinks. And I am totally contradictory - because if no one ever asked how I was doing or how Mark was, I would feel pretty sad. On the other hand, I hate talking about it.

But keep asking me about him.

Contradictory, right? Yep.

And in these moments of self-pity, I really loathe myself and am ashamed that I could be so pathetic. I am really trying to be strong (Army Strong?! :)). I hate to blame my bad attitude on being human - but it's the truth. And, yep, I totally do have the right to be sad about Mark being gone. I've earned that right. But I do not have the right to be bitter about it or mean about it - and I often am.

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Remember the bright idea for the party that I promised I would reveal? Tonight's a fine time to share my plans!

I bring you: Light Bulb Cookies.

What the fudge?!?

Yeah. Mark's an electrician, remember?! What, you act like you've never heard of light bulb cookies. Okay, okay. I made the idea up in my head.

So I googled a light bulb cookie cutter - and, miraculously, I found one. For a measly $1.95!! Unbeatable, right?! I also found an airplane cookie cutter for the same price. So I ordered them in a jiffy - and hopefully they will soon be here!

My plans are to make homemade sugar cookies (with Mark, because he will live with me by the time we make these!) then I will make homemade yellow icing. I will ice the top part yellow and then make a homemade piping bag. I've done this loads of times - make icing and put it into a zip lock bag. Then cut a tiny hole in the corner of one side. Ta da! Then I'll pipe the "screw" part of the bulb - and this part will be a light grey color. THEN, if it wasn't already way awesome, I will put clear glitter sprinkles on it! It will be fabulous.

Later, I found a picture of cookies similar to those which I will make. But all mine will be yellow:

I DON'T NOTICE IT! I reread your blog and the only thing I thought it could be was the Army Strong comment because Mark is in the AF. But after Christine's comment...I think I am wrong! I HAVE TO KNOW!

Shannon

I grew up in Kentucky, met my soul mate at church, married him two years later, and waved goodbye as he left to join the Air Force just two weeks into our marriage. I learned a heckuva lot about life, love, and sacrifice in our first year as husband and wife!

Being a mommy is my greatest joy in life.

Mark

Mark is serving our country in the United States Air Force as an electrician. He loves his career and loves his family even more. He surprises me daily with how awesome of a Daddy he can be. I am absolutely in love with him and SO thankful for him!

Little Toot

Our sweet girl entered our lives on October 20, 2010, and our lives have never been more full or more fun! She's timid, yet spunky and independent; cuddly yet always on the go. She loves learning new words, playing babies and kitchen, and being near her Mama. Her love for babies makes us very excited to see her become Big Sister this fall!

Piper

Piper is our 2-year-old West Highland Terrier! She's full of spunk and brings unimaginable joy to our lives. Piper can be found napping on the couch, snuggled next to me, carrying a "nip" around the house, or rough housing with her favorite raccoon toy! She takes her role as "protector" of our family very seriously and is always guarding our house!